I wrote a letter to the principal who heads the school that my non-homeschooled child attends. It’s posted below. What got me thinking enough to write it was Sue Schmidt’s letter, posted by Oak Norton on Utahns Against Common Core, today. It is posted under my letter.

Shawn,

Regardless of what political views you hold, you likely agree that educators should recognize and get rid of Anti-American bias that poses as modern “fact”. Freedom of thought and expression demand that bias be exposed, not promoted, especially in schools.

I am forwarding this email below, hoping you will double check before ordering any history or social studies texts that minimize teaching a reverence for American history and citizenship, in favor of anti-American, collectivist “global citizenship”.

I see an aggressive “progressive” move in education today, away from traditional loyalty to the Constitution and toward global citizenry and U.N. reverence. I noticed this slant in last year’s WHS A.P. Geography text, for example.

I have taken the time to study actual speeches (posted on YouTube) given by Michael Barber, the CEA of educational text corporation PEARSON. We use Pearson in Wasatch, as you know. But you may not know where they come from politically.

This British CEA, Michael Barber, also regularly “tweets” about American politics needing to veer left. I heard things in Barber’s speeches that I don’t think parents here want to push students toward. I assume Barber’s philosophies trickle down into Pearson’s instructional materials.

I received this email yesterday and (with permission from Sue to post) thought I would pose the question to parents, do you know what’s in your child’s school books?

Oak,

I just thought you would be interested and I want to let as many parents as possible aware of my experience. I have been a homeschooling mom mostly since my now 17 year olds were in 3rd grade. We recently moved to Springville and that combined with other circumstances led me to try public school for all my 7 kids who are of school age (I have 2 younger ones still at home.)

It has a positive experience so far in many ways but I continue to dislike common core on many levels and I have really been concerned about what is and isn’t being taught in history. So concerned that I decided to ask my 6th grade child’s teacher if I could borrow a copy of the history books he is teaching out of.

Appalled is the ONLY word I can think of to describe what I found there! It’s a world history book and the section on the US is maybe 4 pages long. It has no mention of our founding fathers but teaches abundantly about Karl Marx and his “wonderful ideas”.

The section on Christianity is a joke but the section on Islam is lengthy. It’s just ridiculous! !

Needless to say my kids will either be transferring to the local charter school that does not use common core and teaches much about our founding fathers or it’s back to homeschooling.

I think the media needs to hear about this! Just thought you’d be interested.

Thanks,

Sue Schmidt

_____

Oak Norton, a Utah parent who heads Utahns Against Common Core, recently filed a GRAMA request with the state. In correspondence with the legal counsel for the Utah State Office of Education, he was told the request was going to be charged to him because they felt it was primarily of private interest instead of public, since state board members had not received a single complaint on the subject of the selection of the new superintendent.

Oak happened to know this was false.

A few years ago, in the course of a single month, Oak was contacted by 4 separate families who went to Alpine School District to complain about Investigations math, and the very same administrator at the district office told each one of them that they were the only parent to ever complain about the math program.

Each one left wondering if they were the only one to speak up. Unless many more people speak up about the problems and work to get neighbors informed and speak up as well, our school system will continue the downward slide into politically-controlled curriculum and indoctrination.

I am asking you to do the same: contact your local school board, principal and political representative by phone or email if these things matter to you.